


Blog Posts From the Goshen County Library About Writing

by orphan_account



Category: Blog posts - Fandom, Essay - Fandom, Goshen County Library Wyoming, No Fandom, Non-Fiction - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 12,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29982867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: This is a series of blog posts written for Goshen County Library by Helen M. Pugsley. They belong to the Goshen County Library. In 2020 Goshen County Library opted to delete their blog posts from their site. We believe that information and education should be accessible to all so we have republished them here.We are not affiliated with the Goshen County Library.





	1. A Little Humility Goes a Long Way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The Public](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+Public).



Picture this. You just spent three years building an imaginary world, your imaginary   
friends are doing well, and someone finally cares. You’re a published author! Finally. Now   
you’ve got people treating you like you’re smart, like you’re worth something. It’s hard not to let   
it go to your head. You have a place where the sun rises and sets at your command. However,   
getting high off your own greatness is an addiction in itself. 

One of the most brilliant things one of my friends said to me was “You can’t learn with a   
full cup.” And she was right! If you know everything there’s not going to be room for you to   
learn anything. And whether you’ve published 12 books or just 1 you’ve still got room to grow.   
My mentor, who used to grill me about my short stories so hard I’d break a sweat, after I   
published my first book I started showing her all the online resources she could use to promote   
her books! (And don’t worry about the grilling! It was for my good. That’s why by the time you   
read this blog post it’ll be only the second or third draft!) Never approach a situation like you   
know everything. 

Honest to goodness, Gene Gagliano, CJ Box, John Nesbitt, Zack Pullen, and Craig   
Johnson have been some of my favorite authors to work with in my career as a librarian. These   
fellows have all “made it”, but that is not what made them my favorites. Their kindness, their   
gentleness, their humility are what struck me. None of them swaggered into the library⎯ or into   
my email’s inbox⎯ acting like, well, the bestselling authors that they are! Even the ones who   
couldn’t make it to Goshen County Library were still polite enough to make a good impression   
with me. 

Publishing a book can make you feel like you’re sitting on top of the world. At least it did   
for me! But whether you’ve published, one, none, or 76 you’ve still got room to learn and to   
grow. This is coming from someone who’s writing blog posts on how to run your writing career.   
I still have a lot to learn. Being humble and polite will get you a lot farther than stuffy and full of   
yourself, and people will actually enjoy working with you.


	2. Develop A Think Skin

And now for the touchy subject of rejection. It’s going to come before fame and fortune. It’s going to come with fame and fortune. There will be people who absolutely, do not, no matter what you do, will not like your work. That’s okay. Keep going.

If you choose to traditionally publish you will have to work through an entire tracking sheet of queries. (I recommend The Writers Market for a nice tracker graph.) If you choose to traditionally publish you will get rejected a lot. You will get rejected so many times you will make “JK Rowling got rejected seven times before she found a publisher for Harry Potter!” look like a joke. It’s good and it’s normal. I’ve heard of groups of published authors coming together, sipping coffee, and comparing rejection numbers like badges of honor. “18? Go home, kid. Try 35!” War and Chess got 25 in the five years I worked on it, and Tales from the Gishlan Wood is at about 15 right now. According to the anonymous void that is the internet, the internet says you should query about 80-100 publishing houses and agents before you give up.

If you choose to self-publish, and thus sign yourself up to do your own marketing, there will be rejection too. Only, after the book is published! Book stores will tell you they don’t want to carry your book, libraries might choose not to carry your book if you’re not a local author, some of your friends won’t like your book, not everyone you know will read it, and not everyone who reads it will like it. (Traditionally published authors face these trials too.)

What I’m getting at is that you need to develop a thick skin. You can’t just curl up in a ball and cry every time someone tells you they don’t like it. I mean, it makes Christmas awkward but Aunt Franny always spoke her mind anyway. What did you expect? Jokes aside, are you really going to have a horrid day every time an email rolls in that reads “Thank you for your submission but this isn’t what we’re looking for.”? I’ve heard of people scream crying and moping over each one. Even as a 14 year old girl I was like “Ya’ll need to calm down.”

The only thing worse than a crybaby is the writer who explodes with anger. Sometimes, if I actually finish a book I thought was “Meh” I go check the author’s Twitter page to see if they’ll come after me if I say their book was “Meh” on Goodreads. I once saw an author whose work I love but every time she got into an argument with someone she’d screenshot their Facebook profile, post their full name, the name of their hometown, and the slight, then tweet it so that maybe her loyal followers would harass the unlucky soul. “John Doe of Yoder Wyoming, you have stolen my tarts!” I unfollowed her. Another author made headlines a few years ago when he tracked down someone who gave him a poor review and smashed a wine bottle against her head. She was a teenager working in a grocery store. All’s I’m saying is don’t be that guy.

It’s easier said than done but you need to develop a skin so thick that someone can just stand there and tell you all the things they didn’t like about your book while you sit there and don’t even blink. That’s the goal, anyway. You need to realize that rejection will happen. You’ll get your ego hurt. But how you respond to rejection is what defines you.

It’s worth it though. It’s all worth it when someone comes up to you on one of your not so bright and shiny days and says “Omigosh, I read your book in one night! I couldn’t put it down!” and then goes on, and on, and on, for half an hour about how much they loved your book. Or even the “Your poetry is so raw and beautiful.” Comment on Wattpad. It becomes worth it when you hold a copy of your book for the first time, or your very first book signing when you introduce your book to the world, or when your close friends start giving each other copies of your book for Christmas and then they send you pictures of how happy receiving a copy made them, or a stranger within your target audience comes up to you and says “I really enjoyed this.” It becomes worth it. You just need to know there’s two sides to every coin, and prepare yourself for both. There’s nothing wrong with drawing the shades and hiding from the world once in a while, though.


	3. Find Your Joy In Writing

Write ‘til you bleed! Quit your day job! Write 2,000 words a day at least! You’re a failure if you don’t work for six hours straight! So the writing world seems to scream at us. At least with all the memes. Look doll face, you’re not James Patterson. You don’t have to produce a novel every month. Cool it.  
Right now I’m between novels. Writing them, I mean! I finished the first draft of book 4, sent book 2 off to an editor, and I am editing the first draft of book 3. I got wild and started in on book 5. Unfortunately, I completely forgot the format of the Gishlan books and messed it up so bad I had to throw the whole thing out and start over. Only I didn’t start over…  
I swear I’ve been meaning to! I’m really excited about it! It just needs a little more time to gestate in my head, I guess. In the main time I’ve been writing these short stories. I don’t care if they turn out terrible, and when I write them I’m sure no one will read them. So because I don’t care they’ve been turning out great! (If I do say so myself!) I sent one to my friend when she was having a bad day and it made her laugh. I broke all the rules! I used swear words as adjectives, I made my characters talk about sex, I made a pond demon appear with no setup for magic on the timeline. It was fun! And then I polished it up and sent it to a magazine.  
I honestly feel like my teenage self again (but without all the angst). When I was ages 14-19 my absolute favorite thing to do was to sit up all night writing, usually short stories, that were just pure fun! Even though writing is all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life. Once I published War and Chess I got a little too serious and it’s only now I’m falling back in love with the craft.  
What I’m driving at is this: Write for the joy of it! Even when you’re taking yourself seriously, (finally!) don’t let yourself suck the fun out of your writing because this is what you want from life. To write. Enjoy it. If writing 2,000 isn’t working for you don’t write 2,000 words in a day. If you don’t have six hours to write, don’t write for six hours. Quitting your day job is dumb. And honestly… How does one write ‘till they bleed? Chill and find the joy in it.


	4. How To Approach Libraries for a Book Signing

I asked one of my Facebook writer groups if they had suggestions for topics on our writing advice blog. One of them asked “How does one approach a library for a book signing?” I thought it was a perfect topic! So first thing’s first, I went to my boss, Joan Brinkley, the director of Goshen County Library and we put our heads together to bring you this article.

That’s the first thing you as an author want to do. Figure out the name of the director of the library you’re going to query. The director of a library is the head librarian. You’ll sound a lot savvier if you use their name and job title rather than calling the library and asking “May I speak to the head librarian?”

Joan prefers phone calls (I prefer emails but no one cares because I’m not the director). When you call a library, after you know the name and job title of the person you want to talk to, the next thing you need to be ready with is your elevator pitch. All bosses are busy. You need to be able to make someone want to read your book in the time it takes to ride in an elevator with them. If they want more information, great! Just keep it concise. Joan admitted one of the most annoying things an author can do is keep her on the phone for too long. We’re all very excited you got your book published! Truly! But keeping the director on the line for an hour and a half will not buy you brownie points.

Just after I tell you to simmer down here’s another thing Joan stressed: BE CONFIDENT. To quote Joan herself “You’ve already spent years putting it together. Since it’s published it’s already gone through a lot of editing and criticism. Be excited about your book so we can be excited too.”  
If you’re like me and you hate phone calls with all that is within your soul emails are also acceptable. Just make sure that your email has a hyperlink to your website, your contact information, a summary about your book, and any other information you want us to know about you or your book. One of the most annoying ways to contact a library is just messaging their social media with a link to your book on Amazon and nothing else. Don’t do that but with an email! But do an email. You don’t want to just message the Facebook page (or whatever platform you’re on) because you never know who’s actually going to get it. It’s probably not going to be the director. (In our establishment it comes to me, the web manager.) But again: Make sure your email has a hyperlink to your website, your contact information, a summary about your book, and any other information you want us to know about you or your book. 

Joan and I agree it’s best to do book tours. You schedule two or three book signings in a row in towns near each other. For instance, you have one in Scottsbluff, then you come here, then Niobrara County Library. Sometimes, no matter what you do people just won’t come out. It’s okay. That’s why it’s nice to have the next one ready to go so you can just have better luck in the next town.

Once you’ve got the book signing the next thing is to prepare a presentation. At the very least a spiel! I’ve had— I’m not saying it to sound cool, I’ve literally lost track— over 10 book signings. Every library and every event is different. Some want you to do an entire presentation, some want you to sit in the corner and look pretty, and some want to involve you in some bigger project. (In Rapid City the local teens and I got to play with typewriters for NaNoWriMo!) I carried around a folding poster board for a year. There were a lot of places where bringing it out just wasn’t useful or helpful. So from that I learned, always have a backup plan! You can always be cooler than me too and have a power point presentation. Just be prepared to carry a laptop and a projector, and know how to use it. The only thing with tech is that it glitches. So, again. Have that backup plan.

All in all, if you never ask the answer is always “no”. Be polite, and personable, make us love your book as much as you love it, and have a plan.


	5. How to Get Published

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the blog post that started it all.

Many people have come in to our library and asked, “How do you publish a book?” Well, once you’ve gone through the painstaking process of writing it, editing it, editing it again, revising it, and editing it some more, then you begin the next painstaking process: finding a publisher.

I am going to focus on three different kinds of publishing. First there is vanity publishing. Vanity publishing is great when you have something you want to hand out to fifty of your closest friends. For instance, before my great grandmother passed on, she chronicled her life and printed copies for each household. She had six children who went and had children, who went and had children, who are now just getting around to having children. Her concise biography is a coil-bound paper back. I’ve also seen that kind of printing become popular with hometown cookbooks, the kind where everyone in the community contributes a recipe or two. I had to contribute to one for a grade in middle school and it still sits on my mother’s kitchen hutch. You cannot find vanity published books here at the library or on Amazon. You have to buy them directly from the publisher and more often than not in large volumes. Lulu.com falls somewhere between self-publishing and vanity publishing but it is what I recommend for projects like cookbooks, family history books, and anything you want to share with your friends.

Now self-publishing is not what it was seven years ago when I started trying to publish my first book! When I began, it was more like vanity publishing but more costly. I have not self-published so I only know what my friends have told me. With self-publishing, I find the bigger the company the better. I have heard nothing but good things about publishing with createspace.com! It is owned by Amazon and can offer you paperback books as well as eBooks. There is also Kindle Direct Publishing (https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/), which is publishing for free, but only Kindle eBooks. Self-publishing is great if your niche market is very small. For instance, you write for hairless cat owners who run hair salons! I can almost guarantee there’s one out there. Stop looking at me like I’m crazy! I can also almost guarantee there are very few publishers who know hairless cat owners who run hair salons and they will look at you like you are crazy. Maybe you own a hair salon and a hairless cat and have found others like you! Maybe you know people who run salons and a group of people who own hairless cats. Either way, when you’re self-published, it’s up to you to find you niche market and sell to them.

I do not recommend using self-publishing to put your book out on the market faster. That being said, I had a friend who was ill and self-published her book in the space of a few months. The main problem I have with self-publishing is that the manuscripts released into the market are often unpolished. Even if your manuscript is polished gold, it’s going to be set up for sale next to a book that is decidedly not polished gold. (Think post-apocalyptic angel-vampires and the wrong there/their/they’re.) I know many avid readers who won’t pick up a book because it’s wearing the label “self-published.” When I started, again, seven years ago, I was told self-publishing is not how you begin a long career. I have seen that theory proven wrong more than once! (Go look up The Princess Saves Herself in This One.) I was told that a traditional publisher will not pick you up once they see that you have self-published in the past. I have also seen that theory disproven!

All in all, I highly recommend traditional publishing with small publishing houses. That is what I did, thus it is the right way! (Note the hint of sarcasm.) I chose to traditionally publish my book because I have every intention of having a long and fruitful career. Is my book perfect? Not by a long shot! When you traditionally publish you have less control over your book, which is not necessarily a bad thing! I could be wrong, but it’s unlikely you’ve been studying cover-art market trends for years, have perfect spelling, grammar, and know people all across the country who have booths at book fairs, conventions, and comicons. When you traditionally publish you have a whole team of people to work with. As with any team you have to give and take. You may not wind up with the cover art you wanted, but you’re more likely to end up with the cover art you need.  
One of the easiest ways to tell if you’re speaking to a legitimate traditional publisher is whether or not they ask for money up front. There are scams to the umpteenth out there meant to trick writers out of their hard-earned cash! A real publishing house will not ask you to “invest” $1,000, give or take, to publish your book. A real publishing house will take your manuscript, publish it, and then make you pay for the copies of your own book you buy. All in all, make sure to read your contract carefully before you sign it and send it in.

Another thing you should do to protect yourself and your work is copyright it as soon as you have the funds to do so. Every publisher is different. Some will ask for a summary of your work, some will ask for the whole thing, some will ask just for your query. Either way, the best thing to do is carefully read their submission guidelines and follow them to the best of your abilities.

The best place to find small publishers is to find a list of small publishers! The one I like the best is https://www.pw.org/small_presses. Within the past year, Submittable, a third party site you will be using to submit your work to publishers anyway, has made it possible for you to search through publishers that are looking for books like yours. I have yet to explore it in depth, but it is worth a shot. That link is here: https://www.submittable.com/

Someone asked me “what is the most lucrative form of publishing?” Find a different job. Never ever, ever go into writing thinking this is how you’re going to become a millionaire. You’re not. Vanity publishers are how you make Christmas presents, self-publishers often offer higher royalties (50%-100%) but that’s because they don’t expect you to earn back your $1,000 “investment,” and traditional publisher royalties swing anywhere from 10%-15%. That’s 10%-100% of $15.

All in all, the most important thing is to do your research and figure out what’s right for you and your book. You’re reading this article, so you’ve started somewhere! Good job! Do your research on your publisher, polish your manuscript until you hate it, have someone adept with legal things review your contracts, and understand that publishing a book is a sort of journey. You must play both the roles of artist and businessman. If there is an easy way I have yet to find it! Stay patient yet determined.


	6. I Swear I Don't Work For Goodreads

It makes me feel like a product of my generation but having an online presence as an author is paramount. Even if you’re running around doing book signings people want to be able to Google you before you get there. The biggest problem with indie books (an all-encompassing term for self-published books and books from small presses) is that they never reach the hands of people who would read them because those people don’t know they exist.

Now there is an easy way to combat this. You don’t have to be super computer savvy or a tech guru. (Trust me, it’s taken me years of hard work to get this far.) Goodreads. I highly encourage you to go look into creating an author account on Goodreads dot com. When you sign up you will be able to set your own author page up with a photo of you, a small bio, a list of your published works, and more! If you get really brave you can post blog updates, short stories, and list your favorite books to share with your fan base. Really, a page like that gives the librarians who are making posters for your upcoming book signing enough information to make an informative flyer. *COUGH*

If you’re a self-published author or a small press owner you definitely want to make sure the information on all of your books is on Goodreads. People like me like to brag about how smart we are and how much we read (I’m kidding). There is a feature on the site that allows Goodreads users to update their reading progress as they go. I often update my Twitter following with every page turn so the books I love can gain more visibility. At the very least, if you’re a published author you need to go make sure your book’s information is true and correct, which you can do as soon as you finish creating your author profile.

No matter what you do in this day and age being visible on the World Wide Web as an entertainer is important. Goodreads is a great way to get your feet wet if you’re iffy on the whole computer thing. I swear, I don’t work for Goodreads! It’s just helped my career and helped me help other authors. That is why I recommend it so highly.


	7. Just How Accessible Should You Be?

In last month’s blog post, You don’t have to be Accessible All the Time, we talked about our rights to privacy as entertainers. What feels like, in the same breath, we’re going to talk about people actually being able to find you and your glorious books you poured gallons of blood, sweat, and tears, into to be able to share with the world.  
Once upon a time I was lucky enough to be able to write full time. I was told the number one thing that kills indie authors (like you and I) is remaining unknown. So I’d spend my day marketing on social media, establishing connects within the industry, and figuring out where the people who liked to read young adult fantasy novels hung out. Publishing a book is not one of those “if you build it they will come” type deals. You need to market. You need to put yourself, and more importantly, your book out there. Or else your gallons of blood, sweat, and tears are for nothing.  
So! For starters, one thing I didn’t think about until I went to that Wyoming Writers Conference is having a website. I started with a Facebook page and assumed that everyone would be able to find me that way. Now this is going to blow your mind… Not everyone likes using Facebook! It completely blew me away. Honestly. I met a very successful author who built her own publishing press. During a presentation she said “Most of you will be daunted by being told you need a web page.” The room nodded. “But you need a web page.” The room was daunted. “You don’t have to update it once a week. You can do what’s called a business card page.” Which is what I have. A business card website is exactly what it sounds like. This is the author, these are their books, here’s some links to every book seller ever, and every social media site the author is active on. Really, bare minimum you just need something so everyone can find you. At least the author part of your life.  
I don’t suggest having any sort of feed or blog on your website unless you’re actually going to generate enough content to update it at least once a month. It really turns people off when they come to your website, saying “Wow, the book I read by this author was really good. When are they due to put out the next one?” and they find a happy Thanksgiving message from 2017 first thing. I find people will get just as invested in your career as you are. Invest in your career.

And when I say “invest” I don’t necessarily mean financially. When I was writing full time, selling my book was my main source of income. My secondary income was my Etsy store. All in all, I didn’t have much money to invest. So I found every free venue I could use to put my message out in front of the public. You know what that often is? Social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, Tumblr, and many more. Wherever the people you want to reach are, and whatever you’re comfortable using. No matter what venue you use the goal is to reach the people who would be interested in your book, and start a relationship with them. Yes, a relationship.

What I mean by “relationship” is that you actually check in with them like you do your distant family. I used to make videos on my Facebook page once a month-ish. (I am so awkward on video. It’s painful.) Post pictures of you working, your work, or quotes from your work in progress. As you use your platform more and more you’ll get those five guys who like everything you post and laugh at all of your memes. When one goes on vacation you’ll find yourself inboxing them to say “You still okay, over there?” I often compare success on social media to growing a garden. Let it grow. It’s an investment of time.

It is also wise to set up an email account that is exclusively for business. These days you can usually butt-up your email accounts into one inbox. Dig around your email provider, so that way you don’t have to remember 50 passwords. Either way, no one wants to do business with someone whose email address is grandmablipsybunny@wahoo.com, thuglifewyo@actuallyverynerdy.net, or bernicelovestoddforever2011@email.com. It makes people uncomfortable. I’m glad your friends have cute nicknames for you but keep those among your friends. Unless you want the guy you’re negotiating a contract with to slip up and call you “Grandma Blipsy Bunny”. The fail safe formula for a professional looking email handle is first initial, last name, like jsmith@lol.com. (Go John Smith! Live your dreams of being a famous author!)

At any rate, it’s important that you’re accessible. It is also important to your mental health and well-being that you establish boundaries. There is nothing wrong with having a public life and a private life. Keeping the two separate works best when you have two accounts for everything. There is a balance. Your fans love you and want to interact with you, but you still have to be the one to decide what you want out there.


	8. Make Sure People Can Google You

I can tell you from personal experience that if I can’t find you on Google I’m not inviting you to whatever event I was tracking you down for. In this blog, I will be giving you a few pointers on how to make sure people can Google you.  
Pick a name and stick with it.

1.Pick a name and stick with it.  
If you are John Jacob Jinglehiemer Schmidt and the name on the front of your book reads “J. J. J. Schmidt” that’s your name now. When you’re doing your author work you’re J. J. J. Schmidt. Not John Schmidt, not JJ Jinglehiemer Schmidt. Not John Schmidt. You’re J. J. J. Schmidt. Trust me, according to Google Helen M. Pugsley and Helen Pugsley are practically two different people. (G’head and try it.) In real life I’ll answer to Hannah, Heather, and I’ve probably been called Henry on a couple of occasions but when I’m working, (author work working) I’m Helen M. Pugsley.  
Make yourself a business card website.

2\. Make yourself a business card website.  
It’s just like it sounds. It’s a business card but on the internet. I delve a little more into it in this blog. But I literally paid someone younger and wiser, a teenager, to build it for me.

3\. Claim your profile on Amazon Author Central.  
This helps you fill out a little more information about you as an author on Amazon. Amazon loves this because they don’t have to go digging around for information to sell your books, you love this because you can help yourself look more professional and serious in public. It will also allow you to track sales. (I love the map!) See it here.


	9. NaNoWriMo Is Ending but Your Writing Doesn't Have To

No really. You don’t have to only write during National Novel Writing Month. All of your followers on social media are invested in the story you’re trying to tell! Every person you’ve been excitedly telling about your book wants to see you finish your book! So finish it!

As much as I hate to admit it I thrive off of attention. I just came to terms with that this November. Actually tracking my daily word count has really helped me write more. When I can I try to beat my record! It’s been a lot of fun! And it’s even more fun for the people who are really invested in War and Chess to follow along as write the third in the series. (Book two is currently being edited at the publishing house.) Book three has been my NaNoWriMo project for two, maybe three years now. The working title is Emerald, First Queen of Gishlan but that title could very well change! This is by far the longest book I have every written in my life and someday soon I’d like to see it finished!

Because I was deep in despair over December 1st coming way too early, and all third party accountability ending I checked up on NaNoWriMo’s website and… You can make little word goals for yourself all year long! Here is the link to that. Don’t forget to sign in! I have set the impossible goal of 1,000 words per day (30,000 words spanning from December 1st through December 31st) and I am excited to fail miserably trying my best!

Your friends want you to finish your book. Your readers want you to finish your book. [And if you’re like me] your Instagram followers want you to finish your book! So finish it! And if you have, edit it! The world wants your book! And I find, since writing is just show business for shy people, the more people you can get invested in your work the more you yourself will want to write! You don’t have to quit writing just because NaNoWriMo is over!


	10. NaNoWriMo Is Weird

Let me start by saying I am a self-proclaimed NaNoRebel. This isn’t a dis post. I really love what the organization does on a grand scale! National Novel Writing Month is a good thing! I will friend you on the site and support the snot out of you! (I’m nelehjr) This will be my third year organizing the Come Write In Space at our library. NaNoWriMo is amazing!

But NaNoWriMo is also weird.

Write an entire novel? In a month?! Are you nuts?! I’m pretty sure I’d sprain something, if not then I’d definitely let it take a toll on my mental health. Don’t these people know I work for a living?! I don’t just flick my wrist and a book falls out! (I write by hand. There’s a lot of wrist flicking.)

I used to get a little sick to my stomach every November 1st. Everyone who knew me would say “Oh Helen, you write! Are you going to do that NaNoWriMo thing?” So. Much. Pressure. Writing is the only thing I’ve been dead set on doing with my life and passionate about. Sometimes I get a little too intense. But how could I be a real writer if I couldn’t and wouldn’t even attempt with all manner of Hell-bent determination, try?

NaNoWriMo made me face down my biggest personality fault (my intensity) and leap over my biggest hurtle (finding balance). I knew that if I tried to meet the full goal like all the other writers were doing I’d hurt myself. I’d sacrifice things like sleep, personal hygiene, coming to work on time, eating, spending time with loved ones. I’d write. That’d be all. One year I decided to set a personal goal to write one sentence per day, at the very least. Honestly, that helped! A lot! I got to feel included, I got held accountable, it set some good habits, but best of all I got to tell people what I was working on! I used to be super private about my work and wouldn’t let anyone know about it until I had it finished and polished. But now it’s kind of fun because people get really invested before you even finish your story!

So, dear friends, I say we begin the revolution. I am a self-proclaimed NaNoRebel because I like to be included but I know full well I’m not going to complete the full challenge. It’s okay if you know your limits and NaNoWriMo’s goals are far above them. NaNoWriMo is weird. Don’t sacrifice your health to participate, but NaNoWriMo is for everyone and you can still participate! There’s even a “NaNoRebel” badge on their website! Try it out, test out having a community of writer friends, and writing goals. NaNoWriMo is an awesome opportunity to challenge yourself just don’t hurt yourself doing it.


	11. No one is going to Support You if You Don’t Give Them the Chance

When I was in high school I didn’t tell anyone I wrote. Maybe adults at whatever luncheon I got dragged to that week to impress them but not anyone I thought I’d have to see again within the next year. I never really told my peers. Why didn’t I? I was so afraid I wouldn’t be good enough and I’d get made fun of.

I’m sure people saw me physically writing. I remember a bunch of art kids staring at me like I’d grown a third head while writing poetry on a bus to Art Symposium. My friend slapped me on the arm and said “Helen, quit writing and draw something! You’re freaking them out!”

I glanced at a girl wearing two colors of eyeshadow, blue and pink; then to a boy with lime green spikes in his hair, and all their friends who looked just like them. They were in fact staring. “So what?” It took a lot of self-control to go back to writing and not snap at each and every one of them.

Suddenly, in my 20th year of life I wouldn’t stop blasting my Facebook friends with ads for my first publication. “It took me five years to get here.” I told them in a post.

“Omigosh, Helen! We hung out every day back in high school! I had no idea you wrote!” one friend said. I think she felt guilty for not knowing. And I felt guilty for not telling her. It felt too risky! I was blessed with a string of awesome English teachers (Mrs. McCafferty, Ms. Holroyd, and Mrs. Harshberger in that order!) but I remember darting through the hall with my War and Chess manuscript freshly edited by Ms. Holroyd. It was a glossy purple folder and I wouldn’t tell anyone what was inside. “It’s from a teacher.” I said ominously so the other kids would leave it be.

When I published my first book everyone showed up, showed out, and bought a copy. I was grateful for all the support. Now people ask me all the time “When is the next one coming out?!” [and God knows I wish I had an answer!] So while I’m waiting to find a publishing house I’ve been posting updates on the series I never realized would become a series, via a social media, and a ton of poetry on Wattpad. A few short stories here and there too. It’s awesome to see that I have a fan base that is so involved and so supportive of my work! There’s even people I’ve never met in person cheering me on. And of course, plenty of people I do know too. What I’m driving at is that if you don’t put yourself out there no one is going to support your work. How can they if they don’t know you’re working?

My advice? Put yourself out there! My handwriting is terrible so I’m able to post #Aesthetic pictures of my works in progress on Instagram. So somewhere out there there are people invested in the snippits I give them. A ton of people I’ve never met are invested in me “dragging a pregnant woman through the woods while she chants swear words under her breath and a bunch of people follow her around asking her ‘what do we do now?’” and my ‘sassy half-mermaid child who’s favorite weapon is that look”. 

I mainly use Instagram these days. It helps me get my messages out to three other social media sites to reach a broader audience. Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Instagram has turned me into a bit of a photographer. It’s all visually oriented so there’s quite a bit of pressure to make things pretty. Filters can do wonders. Trust me. Sometimes you just have to make ordinary things seem extraordinary. Like, while on vacation I took a walk in a field and wrote next to the creek until sundown. I made a collage of all the pictures I took and simply said “Had a great writing sesh out in the bushes. Wild roses, hawthorn, and blackberries. I only came out with one scratch!” Don’t forget your hashtags. It’s how people with similar interests find you. I recommend starting with Facebook if you’re just learning.

Aside from being active on social media it helps to write for different platforms. Find someone with a blog that needs guest writers! (There’s a ton of blogs. I promise there’s one that suits your interests.) For instance, I am a young adult fantasy author. But I also have written devotionals for several Christian newsletters, blogs, and other assorted projects. It doesn’t have to be in your genre. You just need to know what you’re talking about. It works best if you try for a more competitive market, like Wyoming Writers of WyoPoets.

Earlier I mentioned Wattpad. So far it’s my favorite story sharing platform. I’ve tried Figment, Quizilla, its predecessor Quotev, Teenink was wonderful and gave me a springboard for my career but I aged out, Goodreads, Get Underlined, Deviant Art, and probably a few more I’ve forgotten. Wattpad is my favorite because it’s got such an active community there’s actually people there to interact with your work. It’s also got a really diverse selection of reading material. But as with any site, if you want the site to work for you you have to interact with it.

Self-publishing has opened a lot of doors for a lot of people and it’s gotten a lot more sophisticated than when I jumped into the book bizz at 14 years of age. I encourage you to do your own research and draw your own conclusions. As I am not a self-published author and I do not know that sect of the industry well at all. Also, I don’t want to color anyone’s thinking with my opinions and speculation. However, self-publishing is fantastic way to deliver your final product into the hands of your readers. Read more about the different types of publishing in this previous blog post. It all depends on you. Is the end game getting as much as you can, as fast as you can to your readers?

Sometimes, the best thing, if you’re really shy is handing your work over to strangers. There’s 1 million different social media sites and social apps. A lot of them mirror Snapchat with their “stories” feature. Take for instance Bottled. There’s a ton of apps just like this one. But this app could potentially throw your work to a few people around the globe who may or may not appreciate your short stories and poetry.

What matters is that you try. That you tell people you’re creating. That you give yourself the chance to build a fan base. That you put yourself out there. Honestly, you just might be surprised to see who comes along to support your dreams.


	12. On Time Management

I work 40 hours a week. I promise you, you can write your novel. You have the time.

Life often gets busy. Life just gets flat out friggin’ nuts! But here’s the real secret: You must set a goal to write every day and block out a set amount of time to write. JK Rowling has said “Be ruthless about protecting writing days, i.e., do not cave in to endless requests to have "essential" and "long overdue" meetings on those days. The funny thing is that, although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight for time in which to do it. Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance. I must therefore guard the time allotted to writing as a Hungarian Horntail guards its firstborn egg.” (Source) And it doesn’t have to be a full day. Me, myself, I have an hour.

That hour is usually my lunch break. Work can’t bother me, my family can’t reach me, I don’t text my friends back. That’s my hour. For me, an introvert, that hour is relatively easy to guard. I write exclusively in paper journals because they’re a lot easier to carry than a laptop, a lot harder to resell when they’re stolen, and they never run out of battery. In my little hour I can usually knock out around three pages.


	13. On Writing Every Day

Hey, go easy on yourself. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out! Somedays you find yourself trapped behind the wheel of a large automobile for about ten hours. You simply don’t have time or energy to sit down and write a thousand words on those days! That’s okay!

However, I’m not here to coddle you and tell you you’ll become a better writer by “saving your strength”. There’s not a craft, a talent, or muscle in your body that improves from not being used daily!

What’s been working for me for about six months now is promising myself “I will write one sentence every day.” And I usually do! Somedays I write my one sentence and fall into bed. Other days I wind up writing three pages or better!

I’m old fashioned and I like to use a paper journal and a pen. Every day I like to use a different colored pen to track my progress with my Work In Progress (WIP). It keeps me motivated knowing how much I can do even when I don’t have time to do it all. Sometimes it’s just my one sentence and bed. (Sometimes it’s no sentence and bed! Because I’m a bad kid.) But I love to write so I often write over my lunch break and knock out an entire scene while being a stereotype in a café.

The essential thing is that you try to write every day and work hard to improve your craft. Even God-given talent can be built upon! Setting small goals helps you achieve bigger ones later. Keeping those writing “muscles” in motion keeps them functioning. It doesn’t have to be a thousand words daily (although you’ll finish your book faster) it just has to be something!


	14. Perfect Characters are Boring Characters

Make them suffer. Embarrass them, let them trip in front of their crush, stutter while public speaking, fall and scrape their knees, say the wrong thing to their friend who’s grieving a loss. Make your main character suffer.

Why? Because perfect characters are boring characters. Have you ever read a book where the main character knows exactly what to say, exactly what to do, and exactly when to do it? Even a supporting character! They’re boring!

I spoke with an artist once. He told me people like to connect with art so he liked to paint his surroundings. People want to connect with books too. That’s why the entertainment industry is all abuzz with talk of representation in the media. It’s not only demographic matters people connect to. They want to find people going through the same struggles as them too. Take Smile for example! It’s a graphic novel of a young girl between the ages of 11 and 13 who knocks out her front teeth, has to have massive amounts of oral surgery, starts middle school, gets bullied, finds her first crush, fights with her siblings. Really, normal stuff. Kids about in middle school and about to start middle school really connect with that particular book in our library’s collection. And a perfect main character wouldn’t have her little sister running circles around her singing “All’s I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!”

What drives a plot line is conflict. You need your beloved fictional friends to experience friction to keep them driven and keep them moving. There’s no such thing as perfect people. Imperfect people don’t want to read about perfect characters. Make them human (even if they’re technically elves, or dogs, or werewolves, or what have you!) and make them make mistakes.


	15. Picking a Title Clickbait Style

It was actually my cover artist who suggested to me I might need to reconsider my titles to catch new reader’s attention. “Think like clickbait!”

“What do you mean? ‘Will this random teenage girl save her country? The answer may shock you!’”

He sent me a bunch of laughing emoji’s. Being in England we only communicate through text. “No! Not like that! You need to make people curious about what the book’s about! Kind of like clickbait.”

So I pondered it for a while, while drinking coffee and cleaning my house, and then one of my WIPs (work in progress, plural) went from being named Emerald, First Queen of Gishlan to To Craft a Country. “Whoa.” Richard, the cover artist said “That’s much cooler.”

“I blame you! Thank you!!!”

That’s the trouble though. You have to tell people what the book is about with five words! Titles are not easy! Somedays I feel like I haven’t come up with a good title since War and Chess! However, once Richard told me to think of a book like clickbait it got me thinking “What kind of question do you want to invoke?”

Just scrolling through my Facebook feed now I see titles like “Where Nebraska Stands in the Flood Fight” this makes me ask “Are my friends and relatives in Nebraska okay? What’s going on over there?” Now I want to stop writing this blog post and read it. And “Wife Reads out Husband’s Affair Texts Instead of Vows at Wedding”, “Boy Scouts Welcome First Girls Joining Local Troop with Brand New Uniforms”, “The Animal You See First Reveals the Essence of Your Soul.” All of these raise a question. Like a game of jeopardy. So I ask again, what kind of question do you want to invoke?

I did a poll on Twitter. “Would you read a book called Emerald, First Queen of Gishlan?” I only got one vote and it was “No”. Frankly, no one knows who Emerald is, no one knows why they should care, a lot of people aren’t sure what a Gishlan is, even the people reading my work probably forget the name of the country because sometimes I forget the names of people I’ve known all my life. That’s just how humans are. However! With the title To Craft a Country everyone knows what a country is. We live in one. Craft means make. Is this book going to teach us how to make a country? That sounds neat. Oh, it’s fiction? Helen’s writing another warrior princess type deal? Neat. This reader is down.

Someone told me (probably Richard) that “no matter how good a book is if it’s got a crappy title it’s not going to get picked up and read. Good cover art can only go so far” (and trust me, it goes far! If you’re self-publishing invest in good art!) an intriguing title will make people pick it up and read the back, add it to their To Be Read on Goodreads, Google it, write it down, actually bother to look in to buying your book. Which leads to getting read, which leads to building a fandom, which leads to your work gaining popularity, which leads to having the phrase “New York Times Best Selling Author” in front of your name. That way you don’t have to sell your soul to Satan for a mere 10 years of achieving your dreams. Work hard on your book’s first impressions!

Your book’s title should invoke a question in your potential reader’s mind. You want the question to demand an answer! It’s your books first impression. Try to spark people’s curiosity! Tell us what it’s about in five words or less. And if you need inspiration you’re welcome to come shelf read for us here at your local library! ;)


	16. Take Some Time to Write Your Book

My first book took me five years. By the time I had gotten it published it had eaten a quarter of my life. I still can’t picture my life without writing. Some of my absolute favorite indie books (meaning they’re not mainstream) took ten or more years to find their publishing house. They’re the kind of books I’ve mutilated with dog ears, and sticky tabs, and then rather than lending them out to my friends I buy them copies for Christmas.

As a reader, you can tell when an author just blew through the making of a book just to add another to their list of publications. I’ve even seen best sellers do it. I’ll pick on one of my favorite series, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. The first book was amazing. I loved it! I lent it out to all of my friends and then my buddy and I, being the broke 20-something we were, started trading off buying the books in the series. I don’t think reading past the third book is worth it. I watched my favorite series slowly deteriorate into a pile of nothing-really-interesting-is-happening-but-hey-we-got-600-pages-of-it. When that happens in a series I love I blame a combination of pressure from fans, pressure from the publishing houses, and most of all, a lack of time to deliver.

I have one simple rule with writing: It needs to at least age overnight before I set it free to the public. Even these blog posts! Way back in Elementary school, our teacher Mrs. Felton, had us write short stories. One day, when we went to edit, I remember her saying “Now look at these stories with fresh eyes… My teacher always told us that. I always wondered, ‘What does it mean? You want me to get some visine?’” She blinked her eyes twice for dramatic affect to make us laugh. “No! No it does not! It means read your own story like you’ve never see your own story before!”  
Of course a chorus of “Who wrote this pile of malarkey?” rang out from her students as they made fun of themselves.

To help myself see my own work with fresh eyes I let it sit at least overnight. If I didn’t sleep then it’s 24 hours!

As for novels, I personally cannot write one of those in an hour or two. I write the first draft by hand because notebooks are easy to carry, worthless if stolen, have no distractions, and are all around less cumbersome. After I finish one I spend some time in that odd in-between. No works in progress, and no editing. (It feels wrong!) The first round of editing is typing it up on a computer. Then over the course of a few months I edit it, and edit it, and edit it. My coffee table is the chest that holds various editions of my manuscripts. It kind of makes home home to a writer.

Once upon a time my career goals were one book, per year, until I die. Much to my displeasure it’s been three years since I published my first and last book. I’m still trying to find the right publisher! I’ve had a few offers but I didn’t take them. Instead of hitting the shelves my manuscript, Tales from the Gishlan Wood has found its way into the hands of a capable editor. I’m always excited to have someone with better English skills than I have to look over my work! By the time it’s finished going through the ringer I’m sure it will be the best version of itself it possibly can be!

So take some time to write your book! Enjoy making it! Edit it until you can’t stand it! Pass it around to your friends who would edit it for you in exchange for lunch! Don’t just throw it out there to say you threw it out there. Make sure your book is the best version of your book it possibly can be.


	17. The Best Advice I Ever Got Was Never Take Advice

Before giving me any advice my mentor, June Wilson Read, would lead with “Take it with a grain of salt”. As in “Take it with a grain of salt, but I, the reader, find chapter 7 to be full of useless information. I feel the entire novel could benefit from deleting it entirely.” My version of this is reminding my mentees (or anyone else who cares to hear me blather on) that “The best advice I ever got was never take advice.”

I cannot stress that enough. Always think for yourself. “Never take advice” doesn’t just apply to your life as a writer. I’ve been writing these advice articles to writers but I feel the need to remind the audience that I only have the knowledge of one person.

It’s not really a secret I don’t hold self-publishing companies in high regards. But I’ve known plenty of authors who found the right fit for them and their manuscripts with self-publishing companies. I admire them and I’ve enjoyed their books. I’ve read plenty of authors who will blow through every cliché and played out story line, yet have absolutely dazzled me with their brilliant storytelling. John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars makes me angry because the author admits outright that although he did massive amounts of research, he ignored every bit of it and made up a type of cancer that didn’t exist for Augustus. His book is so wildly popular it was adapted into a film.

There is not a person alive that knows everything there is to know about the writing world. When you submit work to a traditional publisher they’re taking an educated guess on how it’s going to do on the market and in front of their readers. Always trust your instincts but remember to keep your ego in your back pocket. Sometimes you can be your own worst enemy. Don’t forget that whoever is giving you advice cares enough about you and your cause enough to give it. Sometimes it doesn’t always ring out in a pleasant manner. All in all, just be choosy as to which advice you follow and weigh it in your mind before putting it to use.


	18. The Importance of Finding the Right Editor

I recently had a friend of mine ask me to edit his manuscript. Although I know him well enough I’m not sure what genre he likes to write. Being both a librarian and an author I do like to read. But, like every other human being I have types of books I like and others that just aren’t for me. As an author I do try to branch out and read things outside of my comfort zone. (Westerns, romance novels, mainstream fiction.) But I’d rather dislike something that’s about to be adapted into a movie than be the first person to read a good but rough manuscript and say it was “Eh.”

Editors are like you and I. They have specific genres they like to read and they do a better job at editing books they’re geared to like than to tell you to completely change your manuscript to better suit their needs. It would be like me saying “Yeah, the plot’s good but all the kissing junk is really distracting from the main flow of the book.”

“Helen. It’s a romance novel.”

I once had a friend write a children’s book about a unicorn and turn it into her editor. Chiefly this author friend wrote westerns, and chiefly her editor who had worked with her for many years read westerns. “I don’t like it.” The editor declared.

“Well why?”

“I just don’t!”

“But why?!”

“…I just don’t like unicorns, okay!”

The editor, who had been reading and enjoying this authors western novels for years upon years simply didn’t like children’s books, especially children’s books about unicorns, and as a result, my author friend never pushed to have her children’s book published. It’s not the end of the world, but if my author friend were to find another editor who liked children’s books, particularly ones about unicorns, that editor might have said something like “This story has good bones but we need a different illustrator.” Or “The language is too lofty. Please remember most of your audience is under five.” Or “What if instead of Sparkle Mountain we call it Sprinkle Mountain? That way the chocolate river makes sense. Because the mountains in this story are actually made of ice cream, right?”

An editor can make or break a book. They’re the first line of defense from not only type-os but also obscure blunders like “Yeah, that law in Canada changed back in 2012 so here’s an updated statute of limitations. I only spent an hour trying to find that. No biggie.” Or worse. They keep you from breaking your own laws like “You said your vampires couldn’t go out in the sunlight. Yet Damaris gets overly excited when he meets Michelle’s dog and he runs outside without his umbrella. Yet, he comes back to the porch unscathed… Hurt him.” Editors are hugely important. But not every editor is going to like your book just like not every reader is going to like your book once it hits the market. You have to find one that’s going to see your manuscript for the diamond in the rough that it is and then help you polish it until it sparkles.


	19. The Recipe for a Successful Book Signing

Take 12 ounces of published book  
100-300 pounds of enthusiastic author  
Add a venue  
and some curious bookworms  
Yield one book signing

If only it were that simple! At the heart of it it is but from being on both sides of a book signing— the venue host and the author, it’s also not. Last month Joan and I discussed how authors should approach libraries to ask about having a book signing. We came up with so much helpful information I felt the need to split it into two articles. Once you’ve landed the book signing, and hopefully several in a row from several different libraries so you can do a book tour, then comes the hard part. The execution!

You’ve got your presentation planned, right? No? Fret not. It’s not as terrible as it sounds. Public speaking frightens everyone. The trick is to be confident but not conceded, and humble but not shy. One of my favorite quotes is “Writing is show business for the shy.” From Lee Child. That’s why I treat book signings like concert nights. (I also sing and play the trumpet. I don’t make time for either now.) For any performance you dress up, show up early, and have a well-rehearsed plan for what you’re going to do once you have a room full of people’s eyes on you. I even do my preshow rituals in my car. Think of going through your presentation like putting on a show. Not public speaking. (Public speaking burns!)

For the content of a presentation: Think of some questions your friends ask about writing when they take you out to lunch. Write those down, then answer them confidently in a projected tone that the entire room can hear. Honestly, it helps to pretend you are either friends with or becoming friends with the audience. When CJ Box was here the crowd spoke to him like they all knew him, and he spoke back in the same manner. They were a crowd of people who had been following his work for years, who had been hearing his voice in their minds for years. They did know him well because it was like they had been one sided pen pals with him for years. And he knew them because they had been the ones breathing life into his career. The audience is either your friends or people who want to be your new friends. Tell them about what inspired you to write the thing, what kept you going, which publisher did you use and why, what drives the plot. All of it! They’re all very curious book worms who are very excited to see you.

One of the things that phased me the most for my first book signing(s) was “Omigosh, what am I going to wear?” What does “dress nice” and “business casual” even mean? At the time I published my first book I was a dewy eyed 20 year old with crazy hair. I had no idea. So a lot like I did for job interviews, I had a book signing shirt. It was white and I paired it with black slacks. A lot like I did for concert nights as a kid. Having one thing I’d wear for book signings made it easier because it was one less thing to think about during the event but the downside was that, unlike job interviews, pictures of you show up on social media. Everyone knows you’re wearing the same shirt. No one’s called me out on it so I haven’t ever changed my evil ways. Really, wear whatever it is you’d wear if you worked in an office (I didn’t at the time so that was unexplored territory). Either way, the goal with your look is to look like you want to be there and meant to be there.

Another tip: Buy a cash box and keep $50 of $1’s and $5’s. It helps to have someone run the cash box so you can schmooze. It works even better if the person running it isn’t your identical twin. That way people who saw your picture before the event won’t ask your cash-man questions about writing books.

Don’t do exactly what I do before every event we host at the library. Don’t get stressed up! Go with the mindset that you’re there to have a good time. That’s what the audience wants to have too. They left the comfort of their homes to be entertained, meet this cool person who wrote a book, and have a good time. Go make some new friends!

All you need to remember is have a plan, have another plan, be a showman, the audience wants to be your friends if they’re not already, show up early, dress nicely, watch the cash box, and act like you want to be there.


	20. The Root of Your Writer’s Block May Be Insecurity

In this blog post we’re going to talk about feelings. Run while you still can.

In recent years around this time I get a serious case of the Christmas blues. I have lost a lot of close friends throughout the years, and not so much as sending them a Christmas card reminds me of their absence. Because those close relationships had to end I begin examining myself, asking myself what part of my behavior led to the breakdown of our friendship. Because I try to place the blame on myself I become insecure. When I feel like something within me doesn’t meet the measure I suddenly find myself unable to write.

Sometimes you need to stop looking for what your characters are doing next and look inside yourself to see what’s holding you back. It’s not what you want to hear but sometimes it’s best to shove through, write some short stories (because giving up isn’t an option), ride out life’s storm’s, and write. Write even if your main character just happens to be intensely studying the wood grain of a table! You can always edit it out later!

Sometimes it’s not the pen and page you need to look it. It’s the hand that’s holding it.


	21. Write From Your Own Voice

I’m all for giving the “go sit on a tack” to “write what you know”. You think I know what it’s like to be royalty in a monarchial society? What it’s like to use a sword on another human being? My work in progress involves a sassy, pregnant, woman, with shorn hair, who’s in charge of leading a nomadic tribe, and their prisoners, through a wide expanse of forest. I happen to be sassy but that’s about the only thing this main character (MC) and I have in common.

I also enjoy reading Amy Tan’s work. It occurred to me the other evening while reading The Joy Luck Club that I will never be able to pattern my work after hers. I think all fresh creators have a master they wish they could be like. But I will never be able to write what it’s like to be part of a Chinese-American family living in San Francisco. If you haven’t read Amy Tan’s auto-biography I highly recommend it. She and I have had completely different life experiences and that’s not something to despair over. It’s something to celebrate. She can’t write like me, either.

I don’t mean to send you mixed signals, but what I’m trying to say is that not every novel you write has to be a thinly veiled portrayal of your own life, nor does it have to be something completely disaligned from your perception of reality. I often find that the books written to please crowds of people and [hopefully] top best seller’s lists are dry things that feel like they were pasted together with the whims of an entire nation. I don’t like them. As a reader, I want to hear your voice shine through your work. I don’t need to know how good you are at using a thesaurus. I find the most well written books read like having a conversation with someone. Write like you talk! Be yourself when you write.

That being said, although I write fantasy I can confirm I’m not delusional enough to believe I live in a fantasy world. (Ask me about the lengths my fantasy writer friends and I go through to make sure we’re not mocking things like physics.) No matter how fantastical I get there’s always one thing at the heart of every story that makes it mine. My voice.

Don’t feel obligated to write what you know. Do write like you. Write from your own voice. Do not write like the writer you admire.


	22. You don’t have to be Accessible All the Time

Once upon a time I made a new writer friend. He needed an editor and I had a friend who might have liked to help him. Writer Friend gave me his email address and I said “May I share your contact information with my editing friend?”

“Of course!”

“Okay. Great! I just always like to make that verbal confirmation. I am super touchy about other people sharing my contact information.”

“Oh I don’t mind having mine shared at all! That’s just my writer mentality. Anyone and everyone can contact me.”

I looked at him like he was crazy. I couldn’t help myself. You do not have to be accessible all of the time. And I actually had to have a good friend tell me that before I believed it.

Having a relationship with your fans is great! Absolutely do it! But as with every healthy relationship, you need to have boundaries. For instance, anyone and everyone can message me on my War and Chess Facebook page. Anyone and everyone can “like” that page. Anyone and everyone can interact with me and other people who like my writing on that page. It’s when they send my personal page a friend request that I have to say “no”. And believe me, I’ve had to have that heart breaking conversation with a new friend I’ve been chatting with every night for a month on the War and Chess inbox, that “No, I’m not comfortable with adding you as a friend on Facebook yet. Yes, we are still friends.” Because really, the things I post on my personal Facebook page are for my distant relations to keep up with me.

It’s going to come off as a complaint but someone needs to tell you sooner in your career than later in your career. When you’re an entertainer (you write. You are!) people feel entitled to information about you. There are some people who you tell them “I would accept your friend request but I keep this account for my family.” They say “Great! I would love to meet your family!” and you’re left like “Bro, my boyfriend hasn’t even met my family!” For instance, I had a pair of young boys on Twitter try to harass me into telling them my real name “Helen M. Pugsley is too elegant! It’s obviously a pen name! Tell us your real name!” Back then I had a lot more patience, so after an hour of back and forth I finally blocked them both. One of them made a new account, apologized to me, and then asked again “But seriously, what is your real name?”

Really and truly, I’m telling you, you do not have to be accessible to everyone at all times of the day. Bottom line. You’re absolutely allowed to say “No.”, mean it, and most importantly stick with it. In next month’s blog we’ll talk about how accessible you should be. You need to establish boundaries but you don’t have to be J.D. Salinger. (Salinger is the author of Catcher in the Rye. He was an extremely private man. In his career as an author he did a maximum of three interviews and lived in a cabin, in the woods, high up on a mountain.) Keep your private stuff private and keep your public stuff public!


	23. Your Book Isn’t For Everyone

It’s a simple yet painful truth. Your book isn’t for everyone. And that’s okay. You’re not pizza. You can’t please everyone.

If you’ve decided to give the traditional publishing route a go, like I have, you’ll have gotten some rejections. Going through my submission list I’ve reviewed it and found myself asking “Whyyyyy did you do thaaaat?” I’ll admit it. Sometimes I pitch my works to the wrong market. Like, why would I submit War and Chess to a publisher whose niche is horror? (Because I was 15 years old and still learning, thankyaverymuch!). Now, more commonly I’ll pitch my vividly raw poetry to a press or magazine that likes poetry with a lot of allusion. Then, of course I get the polite “This is good but not what we’re looking for.” bit.

Now the really painful part for me is when it’s published. Not all of my friends read fantasy. Most just don’t! But I have some amazing people in my life and they always try to be supportive of me and my dreams. Although I love honesty it stings a little when I hear “I’m sorry Helen, it just wasn’t for me.” And that’s still okay! It’s important to have a diverse group of friends with different interests.

And truth be told, having a diverse group of friends I don’t like every book they’re into! “Oh Helen! You simply must read this romance novel!” I can’t help but wrinkle my nose… Romance isn’t inherently a bad genre. It’s just that Princess Bride is the only “kissing book” I’ll fess up to enjoying. That, and maybe Racheal Leone Gibson’s Highland Peace. I’m patiently waiting for her second book.

So, the moral of the story is you can’t please everyone. You don’t write for everyone. Truthfully, I write for myself and then I edit for my audience. Not every review is going to be a five star review. (Not every review should be a five star review. I get suspicious of books with five five star reviews because it usually means the author begged their friends and family for dishonest ratings). Not every publishing house will like your book, not every friend will like your book, not every reader will like your book! And that’s exactly how it should be.

Edit: My friend Olivia Adams is the one who coined the term "Your book isn't for everyone." She gave me some good advice when I was having a rough day.


	24. Some Advice For Facebook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We may have been mistaken when we said the Goshen County Library deleted the blog posts written by Helen M. Pugsley. They are extremely difficult to access. We want to change that and share knowledge with the world.

Well, I’m a little peeved because I have a long night of computer work ahead of me. This is a piece of advice you probably won’t hear from too many other people because it’s oddly specific… Make sure it’s easy to tag you in event photos on Facebook!

So. My oddly specific problem: After Wyoming Author Day I, the library’s web manager, tried to go through and tag all of the authors via their professional Facebook pages. It came to my attention that I’m the only one who has a page under their book’s name, not their pen name. Thinking back, people had tagged me in author photos on my semi-private “Helen the Human” page. You know, the part of Facebook you keep posting vacation photos to? Selfies for your gramma? That sort of thing. The content only your friends can see. I don’t want people from the public part of my life in the private part of my life. But! The poor web manager from your recent public event won’t go looking to tag the name of your book(s), they’ll go looking for you.

Do yourself a favor, especially if you’re not published yet, put your public page under your pen name. When I wrote War and Chess I didn’t expect to make it a series. So I made the “War and Chess” Facebook page. Now I’m working on making a series that takes place in Gishlan (I’m taking a break before I write book 5 and I’m in the middle of editing book 3), and I don’t only write about Gishlan, much less fantasy. *Looks around* Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore! This is blog isn’t Gishlan!

It’s going to take me a max of three hours to go through the strenuous process of changing the page. It’s not just submitting a name change request, which Facebook will generally deign until you appeal it twice, it’s also rebranding, and tracking down all the graphics I use to decorate my Twitter and Instagram, both under my pen name. Then last but not least, I have to change my personal page enough that the two won’t be easily confused.

In conclusion, right from the get-go, act like the bestselling author you’ve always wanted to be and celebrate your talent, not your individual pieces of work. Own your name.


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